ISTANBUL (dpa-AFX) – A visit planned by the Russian defense and foreign ministers to Turkey on Sunday has been canceled again at short notice. The foreign minister of Turkey Mevlt Cavusoglu and his Russian colleague Sergei Lavrov would have called on the phone to agree on a new date, the ministries of both countries said. The Vice Ministers will exchange views in the coming days, according to Ankara.
According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting on Sunday (June 14) should be about a solution to the Libya conflict. At ministerial level, experts are working on an early fire break and on advancing the domestic Libyan negotiation process. Political and economic solutions should be developed under the United Nations gide and in accordance with the agreements of the Berlin Libya conference in January, it said in Moscow. According to information from Ankara, the Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Dschawad Sarif was expected in Turkey on Sunday.
Ankara supports the internationally recognized government of Prime Minister Fajis al-Sarradsch in Libya, while Moscow supports the insurgent General Chalifa Hafter. On Wednesday, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Kremlin chief Wladimir Putin already spoken on the phone about the situation in Libya.
General Chalifa Haftar had launched an offensive on the capital city of Tripoli with his self-proclaimed “Libyan National Army” more than a year ago, in which the internationally recognized government is based. With the help of Turkey, the units of Prime Minister Fajis al-Sarradsch had recently managed to significantly reduce Haftar’s troops./jam/DP/mis
